Russia will be ‘at war’ with NATO if Ukraine long-range missile restrictions lifted, Putin warns

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO leaders that lifting restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western long-range missiles to strike deep inside Russia would be considered an act of war.

“This will mean that NATO countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia. And if this happens, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats posed to us,” Putin told reporters on Thursday.

Putin’s remarks come as the US and NATO allies seem increasingly open to allowing Ukrainian forces to use Western-provided long-range weapons systems to strike Russian military targets—something Kyiv has been advocating for as the war enters its second year.

During a recent visit to Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hinted that the White House might be considering lifting these restrictions, in line with a broader strategic shift among NATO allies.

“From day one, as you’ve heard me say, we’ve adjusted and adapted as needs have changed and as the battlefield has changed, and I have no doubt we’ll continue to do that as this evolves,” Blinken said, speaking alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

While the US has adjusted its policy to allow limited cross-border strikes into Russia using US-provided weapons, President Joe Biden has not yet approved the use of longer-range systems. US officials have previously expressed concerns that allowing Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia could escalate the conflict.

Biden is facing pressure from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to ease these restrictions as Ukraine struggles to consolidate its battlefield gains and risks being pushed back by Russian forces.

On Tuesday, the bipartisan Congressional Ukraine Caucus called on Biden to allow Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with long-range weapons.

A group of key House Republicans also wrote to the president this week ahead of Blinken’s Ukraine trip, echoing appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to lift the restrictions.

However, Putin on Thursday questioned whether Kyiv could carry out long-range strikes alone, saying “the Ukrainian army is not capable of using cutting-edge high-precision long-range systems supplied by the West” without NATO assistance in targeting.

The US military already provides intelligence to Ukraine and has previously assisted in targeting, although not with the long-range systems currently under consideration.

According to Dr. Stacie Pettyjohn, a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, Ukrainian forces may also have access to other intelligence resources, including commercial satellite imagery, depending on the target.

During a press conference on Thursday, Blinken reiterated that the US provides intelligence to Ukrainian forces as part of ongoing military assistance but declined to comment on whether intelligence-sharing would increase.

Asked about the concerns of escalation, Blinken said on Wednesday that they are a consideration but “certainly not the only factor, and not necessarily a decisive one.”

He also accused Russia of escalating the conflict by acquiring Iranian ballistic missiles.

“We’ve now seen Russia acquire ballistic missiles from Iran, which will further fuel their aggression in Ukraine. So, if anyone is escalating the situation, it’s Mr. Putin and Russia,” said Blinken.

The US first provided Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles, which have a maximum range of about 180 miles (290 kilometers), in October 2023. Kyiv has long called on its Western backers to allow the use of weapons systems that could strike deeper into Russian territory.

In a recent interview with CNN’s Alex Marquardt, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that the airfields Russia uses to attack Ukrainian cities are within the range of deep strikes. To date, Ukraine has used its existing supply of long-range ATACMS to target high-value Russian assets in occupied Crimea, including air defenses, ammo depots, and airfields.

If NATO countries authorize the use of Western weapons for long-range strikes inside Russian territory, this technology could also be used to target close-range ballistic missile (CRBM) systems that recently arrived from Iran, former US Ambassador William Courtney, now an adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation, told CNN. With a range of just 75 miles, a US-made system like ATACMS “could hit anything at that distance and well beyond,” he said.

Credit: CNN